What to do on a sunny afternoon
by Akari Kou
Summary: What the heck is going on in an adult's mind? And what ARE Kagome and Inuyasha doing? What does bathing have to do with that? And why does Kaede react so weird? Detective Shippou investigates …


_hi everybody! i'm the new kid on the block (aka: fanfiction.net), and as it is, absolutely new to fiction writing as well. i have been inventing stories for years but never got around to write them down. consequently, this is my first ever try (took me long enough, heh!).  
  
now that i've decided to share some of my stories with you, go ahead as you want. read it and (if you like it!) enjoy, and i will be glad to have given you a nice break. if you don't like it – sorry. nevermind.  
  
please don't mind my (mis)spelling. i hardly ever use capitals in my private correspondance. also please keep in mind that i am no native english speaker. i try my best to improve my english speaking skills, but there might be a lot of mistakes – sorry once more. if you find any and drop me a hint, i'd be grateful.  
  
finally my disclaimer: i do not own any of the characters used in this story. they belong to takahashi – sensei. i hope she won't mind my borrowing them for this ficlet. i promise i'll give them back soon.  
  
this is a one-shot. no sequel intended. the rating's due to some "hints" as well as slight cursing (i'll give you three guesses at who does the cursing ...) see you soon! yours, akari  
_

**what to do on a sunny afternoon  
**  
  
the landscape lay peacefully under the warming beams of the sun. the end of march was drawing near, and even according to the calendar spring had officially begun. little were the village people aware of this fact, diligently fulfilling their daily tasks and completely ignorant that some weird thing as "calendar" would someday be invented to give numbers and names to each day. yes, the sengoku jidai did not know calendars.  
  
instead, the inhabitants of musashi were enjoying the warm sun and a gentle breeze caressing their skin, and were contentedly continuing their work. in front of "kaede – the – miko"'s hut three adults (two women and a man) and one child (a baby kitsune) were sitting together in silent occupation. both women sat hunched over bundles of dried herbs which they routinely cut into small pieces. the tiny kit was sleeping in the miko's lap, and the young man, who was wearing the attire of a monk, sat concentrating on the women's every movement. it was only a couple of minutes later that he broke out of his meditation and leaned towards the younger woman with an obliging smile.  
  
seconds later a scream and a loud slapping noise put a swarm of birds, which were sitting in a nearby tree, to flight.  
  
"hentaiii !", sango hissed and glowered furiously at miroku. "can't you keep your hands reasonably busy ?!" the adressee of this speech tried to keep a dignified face. as dignified as possible at least, since his left cheek now was a burning red and had started to swell due to the impact of a small but exceptionally strong female hand. "actually, you misinterpret my behaviour, sango", he replied with a serene voice. "i planned exactly this. i was not able to watch kaede – sama's and your combined efforts without wishing to just help you. I did not want to be the only one with idle hands." sango snorted, disgusted. "when are you going to grow up, miroku ...?" "oh, i'd say i already have, my belle", he replied calmly. "isn't the fact that i alone can appreciate your beauty proof enough? but ... if, on the other side, you need additional proof of me having reached manhood, i am able to provide several other possibilities ..." "YOU PATHETIC COPY OF A MONK !!! ISN'T YER SICK BRAIN ABLE TO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE THAN JUST ..." a sharp hiss stopped the taijiya's fit of rage. kaede, placing a meaningful glance on the napping kitsune, made a soothing gesture, and sango blushed and became silent.  
  
apparently, it was too late. shippou already woke up, blinked confusedly and asked with his squeaky voice:"what does sango yell about? WHAT is supposed to be in miroku's brain?" blushing still more, sango lowered her head and kept strict silence, while kaede smiled at the little youkai. "you know shippou, we are talking about an ... adult – thing. only grown – up men and women worry about it. for little-un's like you it might even be dangerous! you should be glad you don't know what all this is about. leave it at that, child." the kit oohed, goggled and piped up:" kaede – baba, you mean this activity with undressing and mutually ...?" his voice drowned as the old woman closed his mouth with her hand. "be quiet", she hissed, "what are you talking about? who could be telling you something like this?" "mmmpf", was shippous comment. but then, it IS difficult to articulate correctly while having a large hand clamped over one's mouth like a padlock. without further ado, kaede's gaze met miroku's, who blinked innocently. her look turned nasty, and so did his future situation. he gulped. "dear", kaede's voice was sweet as she bent down to the baby youkai, "don't bother to think about this. you wouldn't understand, as young as you are now. ignore all the disgusting things grown-ups might tell you." she shot enother dirty look at miroku. "by the way, didn't kagome tell us she was going to return today? don't you want to fetch her? how about taking a nice long walk to the well?" a radiant smile appeared on shippou's features, giving her relief. away he skimmed, looking for kagome.  
  
luckily, he missed the – locally restricted – thunderstorm going down on miroku's head, as soon as the little kit was out of earshot.  
  
yes, kagome would be coming back. shippou began to smile and nearly started humming. oooh, the world was beautiful. although she had only been away for a couple of days, he had missed her badly. she would not be able to stay away for much longer, though. inuyasha made sure of that. naturally, the dictatorial manner in which the hanyou treated her was not to be tolerated, but ... deep down in his little heart shippou was able to understand inuyasha's actions. seeing her leave was hard, and HE would have loved to keep her with him as long as possible. of course, HE had far better motives to keep her here than this dirty halfbreed. HE wanted to keep her with him, because he loved her dearly – HE would never abuse her as a "shard – detector", hah! shippou snorted disdainfully. first miroku, then this crazy, childish half-demon ... sometimes he really felt like he was surrounded by idiots! whatever is going on in an adult's head ...  
  
the next moment a new idea darted into his thoughts. hang on ... if kagome is about to return, inuyasha will already be sitting in front of the well, ready to snatch her away as soon as she put a toe out of it. this would be because the hanyou was impatient. this again meant that he would be INSUFFERABLE. and in THIS case the odds were excellent that he might spend some time plagueing a tiny, helpless kitsune to death. uh-oh. shippou drew a deep breath. what was worse: letting inuyasha get his claws on himself or missing kagome's arrival? maybe there was a possibility to avoid both evils. he proceeded slowly, taking the last steps towards the well with exceptionable care and stopping abruptly when he perceived the first shimmer of inuyasha 's gleaming red attire. from his new position he would be very sure not to miss kagome's arrival at all. without any doubt the freak hanyou would start quarrelling the minute he saw her, and shippou had a very sharp hearing!  
  
meanwhile kaede and sango had stopped bashing miroku, shoved the unconscious monk to the side and returned to work, shaking heads. this monk really ... he had continued pleading innocence, but there was simply no way shippou could have got his knowledge from any other person than him. or could it? He was the one with the screwed brain, right? anyway, kaede jotted down a mental note to interrogate the little kit in order to find out more. after that, she turned back to her medicinal herbs, and a minute later, silence was complete again. only to be interrupted by somebody desperately calling kaede's name.  
  
the old miko looked up. there was a very small, bushy ball-lightning bolting towards her, once again yelling her name with a piteous voice. the moment shippou reached her lap, he seemed to be so totally confused and excited that she needed some time to soothe him. his chubby face was a burning red and his gaze disconcerted. "EWWWWWWWWWWW", was the first sound he managed to utter after he calmed down a bit. "you don't BELIEVE what kagome and inuyasha have been doing!!" kaede and sango turned to stare at each other. "nah!" the first said; the other replied: "impossible!" only slowly their eyes returned to the small fox-youkai, who was shaking with repulsion. "listen, shippou", kaede began with a soft voice, "exactly WHAT did they do?". the small boy stared at her, panicking. sango, with an extra soft voice, demanded: "remember what we were talking about, did they do that?" "NOOOOO", wailed shippou, "i know that. i've seen my parents do that a lot. but kagome and inuyasha weren't even in a bathtub, they were just on the lawn ..." kaede, feeling sango's confused eyes on her, tried to calm down. "and WHAT is it you watched your parents do, littl'un?" this time, shippou looked at her as if she were a bit dense:"taking a bath of course!!! what else are they supposed to do in a bathtub? they take off their clothes and mutually scrub their back! what else were you talking about?!" again kaede and sango traded glances. sango mouthed "miroku's really innocent. who would have thought that?" the old miko suppressed a laughter and turned back to the shaking bundle on her knees. "and bathing is NOT what inuyasha and kagome did?" "NOOO!", he sobbed, "it was MUCH worse. it was DISGUSTING. poor KAGOME!" this time, sango and kaede didn't need to exchange glances. they rose in an instant.  
  
while dashing towards the well, kaede's thoughts raced as well. no matter what the two were up to, she had to put an end to this. kagome was a minor, after all. and WHICH demon had got into inuyasha ??? she smiled grimly at the unintentional pun and hasted on. soon she perceived a patch of crimson, which meant she had at least caught the hanyou. who, funny enough, came sprinting towards her with a look of pure terror on his face. kaede – surprised – stopped in her tracks. sopping wet, inuyasha screeched to a halt before her, gasping. the miko drew a deep breath and raised her chin. "WELL ...?!" she demanded with a thundering voice, her eyes urging him to explain. "i need a towel at once, this wildcat is SO going to finsh me off !!!", the dog-boy pleaded. another imperious glance of kaede's, however, forced him to get into details. "i accidentally spilled a bit of kagome's drink over her shirt, and she was already pissed off. then i tried to help her wash it out at the brook, but i slipped and ... er ..." his voice faded under kaede's stare, and he blushed fiercely. behind his back, the old woman watched an equally sopping girl scramble over the rim of the bank, eyes flashing. inuyasha flinched. "GET ME THIS FUCKING TOWEL OR DIE !!!" he yowled. deeply relieved, kaede flashed a grin at the the fidgeting boy and calmly replied: "you know, it's YOU who screwed this up. pull youself out of it. go get a towel or face kagome's wrath. when you're done, return to the village, right?" chuckling, she turned around and headed back for the village. thank buddha, shot through her mind, NOTHING had happened. I wonder if shippou saw the two of them falling into the brook. this must have looked ominous to him. kami, I wonder what I have been thinking. actually, the two of them would NEVER make UP, let alone make OUT. shaking her head, she faced sango, who now jogged along her path with the little kitsune at her hand. smiling broadly at both of them, kaede cooed: "nothing to worry about, littl'un. whatever you may have seen is nothing to worry about. it was just a kind of ... friendly quarrel. you see, deep down the two are really good friends, and, well, what they did, sometimes happens between friends." a graceful smile adorned her features as she tilted her head towards a still sceptical kitsune. "so, young man, would you now like some cake?"  
  
a bit further down the way, inuyasha heard shuippou's happy squeal and decided that they all had returned towards the village for good. he took a deep breath and exhaled with a long: "PHEWWWWWWWW ... this was CLOSE". smirking, her turned arouned where kagome had finally succeeded in climbing the bank. "well done", she sighed, "lucky you've got such a good perception. gods, imagine if they'd discovered us!" inuyasha's smirk became wider. "so, now you believe me?" kagome smiled. "well, i really thought what happened made your fuses blow. you grab me, jump into the river with me, jump out again like a freak and run away. what was I supposed to think about that? only when i heard kaede's voice i realized you saved both our necks. ooooh, i still imagine what might have happened if they ran into us ...and I shudder to think what shippou might have told them!" the hanyou's grin became so wide that the corners of his mouth could have visited his ears – if he'd HAD human ears, that is. "who told you i did NOT freak out, anyway?" he approached her threateningly. "you never know, i might have ..." with this, he grabbed for her and pulled her near. "and by the way ...", he clawed her hip, "i happen to know that everybody - considerate as they are - has gone back to the village. in other words, the coast is clear again ..." kagomes smile turned into a suppressed giggle: "THAT'S good news. so, where have we been the moment we got disrupted?" she sqealed as he grabbed her tight, threw her into the river, jumped after her and lunged at her. "you were on the verge of drowning ..." he growled and sloshed a handful of water at her face, which kagome promptly swallowed the wrong way, coughing madly. as soon as she caught her breath, she flung herself at him with a battle cry. "you jerk !!! wait until I get my hands on you ! my revenge will be gory and gruesome!" "well i hope so" he replied with an expectant smile. next moment, she jumped into his arms. she lingered for a moment, deeply looking into his sparkling eyes, until he closed them, invitingly pursing his lips. "devil", kagome grinned and playfully nipped the tip of his nose, before she dipped down and kissed him abundantly. "mmmmmmh", she sighed as they broke apart, "a born talent are we, ne? but you still need a bit of practice, mind." "so how many lessons can you give me today?" her hanyou lover asked softly. "as many as you like. are you in a particular hurry?", she retorted. "not exactly. but kaede is waiting for you to bring my head on a platter, isn't she? so how much time do you reckon your wrath will endure?" kagome hesitated, and inuyasha continued: "unless you want to continue my 'lessons' in the village, under their very eyes? let them drop dead with shock?" "alright", kagome decided, "as you know, my rage is deadly. we take another couple of minutes, then i am going to bite off your head and carry it into the village. and on our way back we make up another little story of how i chased you all around the sengokou jidai and back. deal?" inuyasha nodded approval, and kagome snickered as she tilted her head again. inuyasha dug his claws into her hair, brushed her lips, and she closed her eyes in relish.  
  
the landscape lay peacefully under the warming beams of the sun. the end of march was drawing near, and even according to the calendar spring had officially begun. little was the newfound couple in the brook aware of this fact. they had something better to do, after all ...  
  
the end


End file.
